KITUO CHA SHERIA BLOG

Sexual gender based violence has many forms, but there are four distinguished types:

1. Sexual violence
2. Physical violence
3. Emotional violence
4. Economic violence

Sexual violence is a sexual act committed against someone without that person’s freely given consent. It has many forms and can manifest itself under different circumstances. It can happen at home, school, workplace or open space. There can be one perpetrator or many, when it’s many perpetrators it’s called gang rape. Examples of sexual violence are: sexual slavery, sexual harassment, trafficking, forced marriage, Female Genital Mutilation, (FGM), marital rape, virginity tests and incest.

Physical violence is a deliberate use of physical force with the potential for causing harm. It include spitting, scratching, biting, grabbing, shaking, shoving, pushing,restraining, throwing, twisting, slapping (with open or closed hand), punching, choking,burning, and/or use of weapons (e.g., household objects, knives, guns) against the victim. The physical assaults may or may not cause injuries.

Emotional violence also known as psychological violence, characterized by a person subjecting or exposing another to behavior that may result in psychological trauma, anxiety. For example your partner is telling you that one day he or she will kill you, but never acts physically aggressive. That is a case of emotional violence. This form is the hardest to define because it doesn’t leave any physical marks. Although it doesn’t mean that it is not a serious form. For example if you have a friend who is being emotionally abused by his or her spouse it can be a case of emotional violence and is important to recognize.

Economic violence is when perpetrators are controlling access to all of the family resources: time, transportation, food, clothing, shelter, insurance, and money. He or she may actively resist the victim of becoming financially self-sufficient as a way to maintain power and control. When the victim leaves the battering relationship, the perpetrator may use economics as a way to maintain control or force he or her to return: refusing to pay bills, instituting legal procedures costly to the victim, destroying assets in which she has a share, or refusing to work “on the books” where there would be legal access to his income. All of these tactics may be used regardless of the economic class of the family.

Besides these four form there is also domestic violence, usually when writing about the forms of SGBV you do not list domestic violence because it manifests itself in the different categories. Most often the domestic violence consists of different kinds of violence that are physical psychological, and economical. Most often it’s difficult to notice domestic violence since it’s something that grows during a longer period of time

A portrayal of domestic violence: “The Burning Bed” (1984)

“The Burning Bed” was premiered in 1984 in the United States, it got a lot of attention because it was the first movie made about domestic violence. The lead actress Farrah Fawcett was known for playing romantic roles, for the American society to see her portray a domestic violence victim was shocking. The movie portrays domestic violence in a realistic and heart breaking way.

Click on this link to read more about the movie: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087010/

By:

Christina Malmgren – AGCP